Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio,
Speaker 1: Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Bola Bam Here. Cats do all
Speaker 1: kinds of stuff we don't understand, sometimes it seems like
Speaker 1: on purpose, including licking humans. Dogs have more of a
Speaker 1: reputation for being social, goofy, and lacking a nuanced concept
Speaker 1: of personal boundaries. Cats are generally thought of as being
Speaker 1: more standoffish and less prone to slobbering all over their
Speaker 1: human compatriots. But every once in a while, your cat
Speaker 1: will lose that sense of boundary and begin licking your
Speaker 1: face or arm with that scratchy tongue, begging the question why.
Speaker 1: For the article, this episode is based on How Stuff Works.
Speaker 1: Spoke by email with Anita Kelsey, a cat behaviorist and
Speaker 1: author of the book Let's Talk About Cats Conversations on
Speaker 1: Feline Behavior, and she said cats explore the world as
Speaker 1: kittens through their mouths and by chewing on things. They
Speaker 1: lick to groom themselves and lick other cats, a behavior
Speaker 1: called alo grooming in order to bond and groom. Cats
Speaker 1: have a huge number of scent receptors compared with humans,
Speaker 1: about two million compared to our measly five million, so
Speaker 1: scent plays a big part in their everyday lives. Cats
Speaker 1: can smell in two different ways. First, they sniff through
Speaker 1: their noses in short, fast inhalations that capture the scent
Speaker 1: molecules and hold them in a chamber in their nasal
Speaker 1: cavity to let all of their sent receptors do their work.
Speaker 1: A second, cats can taste and analyze scent through an
Speaker 1: organ on the roof of their mouth called the Jacobson's
Speaker 1: organ or the Eva Marionasal organ. When they're using this organ,
Speaker 1: they make a weird face, sort of an open mouthed
Speaker 1: grimace that scientists call a flame in response. This looks
Speaker 1: to us like they're expressing distaste or disgusted, but they're
Speaker 1: really just directing air towards the roof of their mouth.
Speaker 1: Because most of a cat's face is involved in the
Speaker 1: activity of smelling, it makes sense that a cat would
Speaker 1: lick you in order to get more information about you.
Speaker 1: But more than that, cats lick who they like, and
Speaker 1: Kelsey said, cats lick us as a sign of closeness, bonding,
Speaker 1: and affection. It's a form of grooming us, as they
Speaker 1: do with other cats that they've bonded with. I'm sure
Speaker 1: they're also enjoying taking in our scent. They love armpits,
Speaker 1: for example, as there is a strong scent there. Although
Speaker 1: cats aren't as exuberant in their demonstration of affections as
Speaker 1: dogs usually are, according to Kelsey, we shouldn't compare the
Speaker 1: two animals. She said, we are seen as part of
Speaker 1: the cat family. Cats show us affection through behaviors like
Speaker 1: remaining in our company, purring, sleeping next to us and
Speaker 1: on our laps, and rubbing against us. Aside from a
Speaker 1: cat's general affection for you and the urge to groom,
Speaker 1: a buddy, cat might lick you for a variety of
Speaker 1: other reasons. For starters, If your cat is regularly coming
Speaker 1: at you with its sand paper tongue, the reason might
Speaker 1: be that it wants to mark you as its territory,
Speaker 1: and what better way to tell other cats to back
Speaker 1: off than by smearing you with a little special spit perfume.
Speaker 1: Cats also tend to lick things that they think are tasty.
Speaker 1: Cats can't taste sweet things. They're the only mammal that can't,
Speaker 1: but they might really like your hand, the lotion or
Speaker 1: the residue that breakfast left on your fingers. If you
Speaker 1: find that your cat is particularly interested in a specific
Speaker 1: cosmetic product or appointment you use, especially a prescription ointment
Speaker 1: like a hormone cream. Ask your vet whether it's safe
Speaker 1: for them to ingest. Some cats also lick in order
Speaker 1: to cope with stress or fear, and this behavior is
Speaker 1: especially common in cats who were taken away from their
Speaker 1: mothers very early, but it can happen in any cat.
Speaker 1: If this behavior seems to worsen over time or is
Speaker 1: accompanied by nervous body language, or if they begin over
Speaker 1: grooming themselves to the point of creating bald spots, it's
Speaker 1: a good idea to ask your vet about treatment. But
Speaker 1: what about when licking is too much for you. It's
Speaker 1: very sweet that your cat likes you but wants to
Speaker 1: keep you clean or wants to tell other cats that
Speaker 1: you're their person, But sometimes the licking can get to
Speaker 1: be too much, especially because those little carratin barbs on
Speaker 1: their tongue called pepilli, can hurt. Cat tongues are scratchy
Speaker 1: because they need them to act as a brush for
Speaker 1: combing fur and dislodging dirt, dander, and fleas. The papilli
Speaker 1: are really effective tools because they're stiff, shape, wick saliva
Speaker 1: off the tongue and onto the cat's fur for ease
Speaker 1: of grooming and body temperature regulation. Researchers have even designed
Speaker 1: better cat brushes based on the analysis of these barbs,
Speaker 1: but they can definitely wear on sensitive skin. To dissuade
Speaker 1: your cat from licking you, you can try distracting them
Speaker 1: with a toy of getting out of brush and grooming them,
Speaker 1: simply walking away, or even just putting a cardboard box
Speaker 1: in the middle of the floor. It's worth a shot.
Speaker 1: Today's episode is based on the article why does my
Speaker 1: cat Lick Me? On how stuff works dot com written
Speaker 1: by Jesslyn Shields. Brain Stuff is production of I Heart
Speaker 1: Radio in partnership with how stuff works dot Com, and
Speaker 1: it's produced by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts my heart Radio,
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